Ecstatic and Ascetic Approaches to Psychedelic Practice
We heal when dance with wild abandon together.
Sometimes, people ask me about my concerns with the over-medicalization of psychedelics. Of course, accessibility is a huge issue for me. This is why all of our integration circles have been free to everyone for the past five + years.
But today, I would like to talk about something else.
I'm concerned that there is a huge influx of people coming to the psychedelic space who might never know the joys of dancing while high. Not only are people not being told that dancing on psychedelics is supremely transformational, but many of them might come away with the idea that it's not even ok. Protocols are being developed and pushed forward that suggest that the only safe and useful way to take psychedelics is in a spartan room with an eye mask, surrounded by medical professionals.
Hopefully, you know that’s not true. Hopefully, you know that is not how the majority of psychedelics are taken in the world today, and it’s definitely not how they have been taken historically.
I’m not trying to diss medical psychedelic therapy. It’s remarkable and laudable. If you’re reading this, and you’re a scientific researcher, or medical psychedelic provider, then thank you. Thank you for all that you do. I just don’t like the idea that it’s the only way. I’m not a big fan of ‘only one way’. Unless that way is love. But I digress.
Since time immemorial, dancing has been respected as both a legitimate spiritual practice and an effective method of emotional processing and catharsis. Dance has built strong communities and families. Throughout time and place, the ritual of dance has been part of the ceremonies around births, marriages, and funerals. It’s a safe bet that if something holds significance to the human race in general, someone has danced about it.
There has always been a polarity to spiritual purchase approaches. On one end, you have the ascetic, and on the other, the ecstatic.
The archetypal ecstatic practitioner is the entranced drumming and dancing shaman. Dancing along the Himalayas, it seems at any moment he step off into the sky. He wears bright, elaborate clothes, and his mannerisms are strange and unsettling. He’s wild and the look in his eyes shows a playfulness and a compassion that is so boundless it almost knocks you back.
Maybe you know someone like that, even?
A good example of the ascetic is the Zen monk. His days include meditating in a minimal and immaculate room, sweeping the floor in silence, and walking along forest paths. His diet is restricted, and his movements are precise. The wildest thing he does is paint a circle in a single black brushstroke. And yet his eyes are not so different from those of our shaman.
We regular folks might weave our way between these extremes. We might have a leaning towards one or the other, but we know intuitively that we need both these energies to be whole as we find our way on the spiritual path.
We also know, perhaps all too well, the way the shadows of each of these can play out. Perhaps we’ve held back in the past, cautionary tales running through our minds.
Part of our work is to find healthy ways to express these two essentialities of our nature, to consciously craft an authentic way for ourselves that allows time and space for both our discipline and our freedom.
Models for healing that don’t acknowledge the deep forces at the roots of our shared humanity are only going to go so far. Folk art and healing are so important. Just as a small child needs to know they can contribute to the family, we all need to understand that we have the capacity to offer healing presence to each other.
We heal when we sit quietly together.
We heal when dance with wild abandon together.
Work with me:
Fractal Inquiry Masterclass: Powerful Questions for Psychedelic Coaching
When I learned to coach, I was taught that asking good questions is paramount. And when other coaches come to me for training and mentorship, the art of inquiry is one of the top two things that people want to talk to me about. (The other is how to build a coaching business. We'll leave that for another time.)
Inquiry is a big part of our Coaching Training Program, and it's what I'm going to be teaching in Danielle and Adam's Microdosing Facilitator Program.
On May 2nd, I made an Instagram Video inviting people to join one of these two programs to discuss this topic with me and I got so many requests for a stand-alone class on this topic. So here we are, 2 months to the day (coincidentally), with the class you requested.
It's going to be three weeks, and we will meet on Thursday nights in August.
It will focus on the impact of mindful inquiry and deep listening in your Psychedelic Integration Coaching. You'll learn coaching techniques designed to awaken your clients’ inner resourcefulness. You'll be able to practice them in our community container so that you can see how they work in real-time.
Inquiry is a practice that goes beyond mere discussions of microdosing protocols or educational sessions on molecules and dosages. Move beyond just lecturing your clients. Move beyond reactionary advice-giving; embrace the true art of coaching.
We'll cover:
See how asking the right questions can lead to closing more sales.
Know what to do after your client tells you “where they feel it in their body”
And of course, we'll discuss a little parts work as mentioned above!
As a bonus, you'll receive:
Tam’s Comprehensive Inquiry Framework Workstation - robust templates to support you in exploring essential areas of your client’s life.
Tam’s Integration Journaling Prompts - the same questions that guide us in supporting our clients as they process their psychedelic experiences.
Twice Weekly Group Meditations - take the opportunity to sit with us!
Ongoing Q&A with Daniel - Daniel answers most questions posed in the community space.
If you're thinking about joining our year-long psychedelic integration coaching training, this is a great way to explore what it means to be a psychedelic integration coach and what it's like to learn with us!
Logistics:
Class meets Thursdays, August 15, 22, 29 at 4 - 6 pm Pacific, 7 -9 pm Eastern
Meditation meets Mondays and Wednesdays at 9 - 9:30am Pacific, Noon Eastern
Community practice and discussion space through "Mighty Networks"
Class is $249, or $149 for just the recordings.
I hope this seems fun and useful to you! See you There